Jakarta. Indonesia's drug regulator had recently uncovered viral illegal cosmetics worth over a whopping Rp 31.7 billion or around $1.9 million, many of which are imported goods.

The Indonesian cosmetics market is thriving. Beauty influencers are also on the rise in Indonesia but so are concerns over false advertising. While their audience is hoping for a glow-up, not a few of these internet personalities endorse beauty products that are illegal.

To prevent people from being tempted to use harmful beauty products, the National Drug and Food Monitoring Agency (BPOM) carried out a massive crackdown across the country on Feb. 10-18. The operations specifically targeted illegal skincare and makeup products that had gone viral on social media. Within a short period of time, the BPOM had already seized millions of American dollars worth of unsafe and unregistered cosmetics, including those that were past their expiry date.

"We have been watching the viral cosmetics on social media like a hawk. ... We have found 4,334 variants and 205,133 pieces from 91 illegal cosmetics brands. They are all worth over Rp 31.7 billion," BPOM's chief Taruna Ikrar told a press briefing on Friday.

BPOM reported that 17.4 percent of those beauty products uncovered in its recent operations contained harmful ingredients, including skin cancer-causing mercury. There were also illegal prescription skincare products in the findings. About 60 percent of the illegal cosmetics were imported, many coming from Indonesia's top trading partner China. Around 2.6 percent of the illegal cosmetics found in the crackdowns had expired.

According to Taruna, most of the findings took place in Yogyakarta as the city's seized cosmetics were worth Rp 11.2 billion, followed by Indonesia's busiest metropolis Jakarta at Rp 10.3 billion. Taruna revealed that the economic value of these illegal cosmetics was tenfold what BPOM had seized in similar operations last year, during which the confiscated beauty products were worth "only" Rp 2.8 billion.

"This shows that we [BPOM] are still working hard despite the budget efficiency measures," Taruna told reporters.

For context, President Prabowo Subianto has ordered his ministers and government agencies to save Rp 307 trillion in spending this fiscal year. BPOM has to slash its nearly Rp 2.6 trillion budget to Rp 1.4 trillion.